PRIVACY NOTICE OF BEAUMONDE LAW PRACTICE

 

WHY WE ARE COLLECTING PERSONAL DATA

 

You have an agreement with us to carry out, or to prepare to carry out , legal work for you or to give you legal advice.

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We also require proof of your identity for  fraud checks which we are legally required to make.

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In most cases we charge fees for our professional services  under our contract with you and require payment details from you, so we can exercise our legitimate interests by charging  for the work you have asked us to do .

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We cannot do any of this without your personal information.

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If you are unable to provide this information, then this will make it impossible for us to carry out the legal work for you or to carry out the legal checks we are required to make.

 

WHAT PERSONAL DATA WE ARE COLLECTING

We need to collect personal details such as your full name, address, date of birth, address, National Insurance number, employment details and paperwork .

We also need to collect bank or credit card details from you in order to pay our professional fees under our contract with you.

If you are asking us to represent you in a criminal case, then we will need to obtain details of any criminal convictions.

We are also likely to obtain papers and details concerning criminal allegations or charges that you face.

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In Employment law matters, we are likely to receive papers regarding employment disputes.

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In certain circumstances, we may require sensitive data such as your race ,ethnic origin, religion, trade union membership, health and sexual orientation so that we can establish, exercise or defend a legal claim for you.

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We would also retain some of that sensitive data , if given a passport for the purposes of establishing identity, and for the purposes of money laundering regulations.

 

WHAT WE DO WITH THE PERSONAL DATA

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We will need to add your details to our firm database.

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We will check that we have not previously represented a legal opponent of yours.

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Each time that you have a meeting with us about a new matter, and if you decide to go ahead, then we will open a new file on our database using your personal data.

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We will use the information to

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1. Give you legal advice

2. Write and email you regarding your matter.

3. To prepare for and to represent you in  any legal proceedings or disputes in which you are involved.

4. To write to your opponent and/or to any  tribunal or court in the case of any legal proceedings you face.

5. To check your identity as required by legal authorities and our regulator.

6. To contact possible witnesses in support of your matter.

7. To obtain expert reports ,such as medical, where this is necessary to advance your matter.

8. Use banking details and credit card details to pay our professional fees and to maintain our banking and business records for taxation, VAT and accounts purposes or as required to fulfil our Professional and Regulatory obligations.

 

WHAT WE WILL NOT DO WITH YOUR PERSONAL DATA

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We will not use your data for the purposes of marketing and will only share it with others if this is necessary to advance your case or matter.

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Once your matter is at an end, we will only contact you if there is a new development in any matter or case in which you have instructed us.

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We do not normally send your data outside of the European Economic Area.

However, we may do so when any of the following apply

 

• It is necessary for the performance of a contract between you  and us or for pre-contractual steps taken at your        request;

• It is necessary for the performance of a contract made in the interests of yourself  between us and another person;

• It is necessary for important reasons of public interest;

• It is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims;

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HOW WE SECURE YOUR PERSONAL DATA.

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Our database is password protected and is securely held.

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All our computers are password protected and have virus protection.

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Paper files are kept on the premises in locked storage when not being worked on.

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All confidential paper waste is shredded on our premises or is sent away for secure shredding off premises.

Our office is locked and secured when it is closed or when no one is present.

 

HOW LONG WE KEEP YOUR DATA FOR.

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A.   Six years after we finish dealing with your matter. It is necessary for us to keep your matter file for this length of time, in your interests, in case the work we do is open to challenge and, because our insurer requires it.

After this period , we will destroy your file.

B.  We will destroy proof of identity five years from the date that your file is closed.

After these periods, we will keep details of only your name, address, date of birth and type of case on our database for the purposes of conflict checks in the future and as required by our regulator.

 

HOW TO GAIN ACCESS TO YOUR DATA.

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You have a right to request access to information that we hold about you.

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You also have the following rights

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• To object to processing of personal data that is likely to cause, or is causing, damage or distress

• To prevent processing of your data for the purpose of direct marketing

• object to decisions being taken by automated means

• in certain circumstances, have inaccurate personal data rectified, blocked, erased or destroyed; and

• a right to seek redress, either through the ICO, or through the courts

 

 If you wish to contact us regarding any of your rights, then please contact  Sundeep Bhatia on Sundeep.bhatia@beaumonde-law.co.uk

 

Alternatively, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s office  at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/